Some films dash forward with purpose. Some films are happy to wander along towards their destination. That an effort entitled A Walk in the Woods falls into the latter category is hardly unexpected, nor are its scenic sights wrapped up in life lessons, information and other insights; it is based on the 1998 non-fiction book A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail by Bill Bryson, after all.
The American travel author’s tome becomes director Ken Kwapis’ (Big Miracle) latest film, with a screenplay written by first-timers Rick Kerb and Bill Holderman based on an earlier version penned by an uncredited Michael Arndt (The Hunger Games: Catching Fire). Ages change in the page-to-screen translation, a far from surprising alteration given that actor Robert Redford (Captain America: The Winter Soldier) first announced that he would star in a movie adaptation of the text a decade ago. A planned reteaming with the late Paul Newman didn’t come to fruition, so Nick Nolte (Run All Night) completes the odd couple pairing for the story’s walking road trip.
Galvanised by the passing of time — and, increasingly, of his friends — Redford’s Bryson returns from a stroll through the Appalachian Trail near his New Hampshire home determined that hiking the 2,118-mile track would be a worthwhile journey. The news earns the dismay and concern of his wife, Catherine (Emma Thompson, Men, Women & Children), which sparks Bryson to find a trekking companion. Overweight, hardly in peak physical form and recovering from alcoholism, his estranged acquaintance Stephen Katz (Nolte) fits the bill purely by being the only person to volunteer. Their boy’s own adventure encompasses more than just rambling and soul searching, or bonding and bantering, thanks to bears, bad weather, a tumble down a cliff and the other travellers they encounter.
With its likeable cast — including brief appearances by Nick Offerman (Me and Earl and the Dying Girl) as a camping store employee, Mary Steenburgen (Song One) as a motel proprietor and Kristen Schaal (TV’s The Last Man on Earth) as a grating fellow hiker — plus picturesque imagery and leisurely pace, A Walk in the Woods is designed to feel like an amiable stroll; however what sounds fine in theory doesn’t always work in audio-visual actuality. Using all of the available elements to evoke a sense of pleasantness and light-heartedness appears to be the film’s main aim as it stresses that the experience is what matters most, and though the effort that results indeed earns that description, that there’s little else on offer is always evident.
Accordingly, in traversing the well-trodden footsteps of other trek-based filmic fare as well as checking off the requisite aging gentlemen tropes, the charisma of the actors and the beauty of the setting are asked to do the heavy lifting as the episodic tale moseys from one stock-standard occurrence to the next. Other than recurrent vistas of the natural terrain, telling rather than showing is the approach preferred — yet perfunctory dialogue aside, little is actually said. Of course, the two pillars the feature stands upon earn their prominence, the always enjoyable to watch Redford and Nolte cultivating a gently adversarial rapport, and the cinematography by John Bailey (The Forger) as warm and welcoming as a postcard or travelogue. Alas, that’s the meandering sum of A Walk in the Woods‘ parts. In an offering ostensibly about not merely seeing the forest for the trees, it equally lacks anything more than clichéd detail and a fuzzy approximation of a bigger picture.
Rating: 2.5 stars out of 5
A Walk in the Woods
Director: Ken Kwapis
USA, 2015, 104 mins
Release date: 3 September
Distributor: eOne
Rated: M
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